The Food Hierarchy

The question I am most frequently asked is, "What should I eat?" And while there is plenty of food advice out there, we lack an easily understood way to convey what is food and what are our best choices. The food pyramid has certainly failed us (and is a great example of special interests at work), we aren't teaching meaningful nutrition in our schools and people are innundated by food commercials and rumors. The result? A great deal of confusion about what to eat.

During a Wellness Workshop I led earlier this week, we spent a great deal of time talking about making good food choices. I left the workshop with a mission: create an quick reference tool for making good food choices. And... The Food Hierarchy was born.



Hopefully, this tool will help to clear up some of the confusion about what is actually food and what highly processed, fake and chemical things disquise themselves as food. If people chose at least 80% of their food from the green and yellow categories, we would go a long way toward a more healthy world.

As with all things, this is a work in progress. I would love to hear your feedback and ideas!

Plan to Plant

Spring is in the air and in the soil! If you haven't done so already this weekend is a great time to start your yearly garden. A garden project can be a very ambitious undertaking and it can be as simple as a plant or two housed in a container. It doesn't much matter what or how much you plant, the idea is to plant. As a general rule of thumb, choose (at least) one plant for each member of your household. Everybody can get into the gardening fun and you'll have a family activity to enjoy together all Spring and Summer long.

What to plant? Your favorite vegetable, of course! My most favorite is tomato plants. Yummy... I can't wait until the first tomato harvest, still warm from the sun. And, there are many other things that are easy to grow like herbs, leafy greens (arugula grows like crazy), cucumbers, peppers and squash. This weekend, find a few containers and invest in some good quality organic soil and get planting.

The Internet is full of great information about planting a garden and your local garden store is another great resource. You can also search your local area for a community garden when you can get a little garden plot for your own use. Remember, the idea is to plant something this year. Anything, really. Doing so will be good for you, good for the Earth and you'll be encouraging others to follow your lead. Happy Gardening!

Eating for Energy

Take a moment for yourself. Take three deep breaths, in and out. Now, consider this question... Do you have enough energy? Is your body ready and raring to go? Could you jump up from your chair and be a little ball of power?

If so, congratulations! If not, you're not alone. The dictionary defines energy as "the capacity for vigorous activity; available power." For our bodies, it means we have the juice to get up and go and do our daily activities without feeling worn down and tired. Many people suffer from energy slumps which can be caused by stress (emotional, chemical, mental or physical) and by what we eat.

Since energy slumps can be caused by our food, it is also true that energy abundance can be created by our food. This is excellent news! Making better food choices can help you regain the energy you need. Let's learn how!

Energy Zappers
There are several food items that cause energy depletion including:

• Caffeine (more on that below)
• Soft drinks
• Alcohol
• Too much meat or not enough meat
• Processed, chemical "fake" foods
• Sugar and fake sugars (see below on this one, too).
• Trans fats

To clarify the caffiene and sugar items: Yes, it is true that a jolt of caffiene or a dose of sugar can give you an energy boost. The boost is temporary, however, and puts your body into a depletion-craving cycle where it asks for more after it processes through what you've already given it. And more and more and so on. This vicious circle is not good for our bodies and over time, can cause harm.

Energy Suppliers
More healthy food sources of energy include:

• Whole, raw fruits
• Leafy greens (like kale, collards, chard and arugula)
• Whole grains (quinoa, brown rice, wild rice)
• Beans
• Green algae and seaweeds

As your probably noticed, the energy suppliers are whole, natural and unprocessed foods. These foods are whole and complete organisms and therefore can give your body whole and complete nutrition. The nutrients, fiber and vitamins all work together with your body to fill up its fuel tank so you have the energy you need to get the job done.

Another great tip for instant energy is a quick round of exercise. Stand up and do 20 jumping jacks. Or talk a walk outside for 10 minutes. Anything really that gets your blood pumping and body moving will help you feel more perky.

So, if you'd like to have more energy in your body and in your life. Consider what on the list of energy zappers you can zap from your diet. Consider what energy suppliers you can rely upon instead. And, when you feel a slump coming on don't resort to the caffiene or sugar trap, get up and get moving!

Wellness Goals

The first step to make a plan for wellness is to know where you're going. Take a little time and reflect on your wellness goals. Wellness goals come in all forms so devote a little time to really understand what is motivating you to make some healthful changes. We also believe wellness is much more than eating well and getting exercise every day. True and total wellness is also about the other parts of your life and your "mind" health and well-being.

A fun and easy way to assess your overall wellness is by answering this question: Do you jump out of bed each morning ready and excited to greet the day? If you do jump about of bed raring to go on most days, chances are you're doing pretty well. If you're startled awake by your alarm and your first thought is, "Ugh, morning already?" then we think you have some opportunity to be more well.

Given that, think about your goals. To help you along, here are some examples:

• I want to lose weight
• I want to model healthy behavior for my kids
• I want to "feel" better
• I want better shape and muscle tone
• I want to live longer
• I want to prevent diabetes, heart disease and stroke
• I want to find my life's dream
• I want to start my own company
• I want to retire
• I want a new job
• I want to climb Mt. Everest
• I want to run a marathon
• I want to write a book
• I want to travel the world
• I want to be happy

There are as many different goals as there are people. Wellness is personal. Your wellness goals are personal. Let's make them happen!

 

Sugar Addiction

Stress sometimes invokes our most comforting craving. Sugar. Sugar cravings can, of course, also come from nowhere and many people simply crave sugar all day, every day. To be your most healthiest self, getting a handle on your relationship with sugar is important.

By all accounts, many Americans have a serious issue with sugar. On average, we consume 21.4 teaspoons of added sugar each day. This adds up to an astounding 320 calories! A day. That many added calories in our diet each day will significant weight gain. So what can you do? Three things:

1. Understand why you crave sugar.
2. Be able to identify the many forms of sugar so you can avoid it.
3. Choose other healthy options

Understanding Sugar Cravings
A craving for sugar is often a simple message from your body. When you crave sugar, your body craves energy and your wise body knows sugar will deliver the quick hit it desires. Digested sugar become glucose and glucose is the fuel for your cells.

Identifying Sugar
We can all identify the most obvious sources of sugar. Cakes, cookies, candy bars, ice creams are all laden with sugar. Unfortunately, added sugars also lurk in many popular foods. In fact, the flooding of processed, low-fat and non-fat "food" products in our culture has only added to the problem. Food manufacturers often use sugar, and its many forms, to fool us into thinking processed foods taste good. Sugar ends up in our foods under many names including: corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, glucose and fructose. You've heard it before, read the labels, so you know what you're putting in your body. Or, to avoid the problem entirely, don't eat processed foods (aka things that come in boxes).

A note on sugar substitutes: Some people replace the real sugar in their diets with fake sweeteners like the many choices that come in blue, pink and yellow packets. There are also the more trendy sugar substitutues like agave and stevia. Should you substitute sugar with something else? Our philosophy is this: You are better off with whatever is as close to its natural form as possible. The things that come in packets are no better than other processed foods and are best avoided. If you want whole natural sweeteners use honey, maple syrup and the natural forms of stevia (green or brown).

Healthy Options
Sometimes a sugar craving is your body asking for something else. To identify more healthy options, it helps to understand what is really going on. Once you have a real understanding of what is going on, you're better able to select an option that will satisfy your sugar craving. Consider the following:

Often, if you take a few minutes to listen to the messages your body is sending, you'll be able to give it what it really needs and you'll be happier for it. Remember, every choice counts and you get to choose!

How to Choose You

Wednesday's three tips for wellness stand: Water. Cook. Walk. If you start with those three things, you'll be on your way to better health. To choose you, choose wellness and help save our healthcare system, I'm going to add two more: sleep and plan.
Water

• Drink plenty of water each day.
• Give up all processed, sugar-laden and fake-sugar-laden drinks.

Cook

• Prepare at least 80% of your meals at home (17 meals a week; make your lunch and take it with you).
• Use whole, natural ingredients (opening a box of something, adding a liquid and heating does not count as cooking).

Walk

• Walk at least 30 minutes every day.
• Add other exercise (start with strength training 2x/week, flexibility 2x/week and build from there).

Sleep

• Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.

Plan

• Each Sunday, plan your upcoming week to include:
• What you'll eat
• How you'll exercise

If you do these five things, consistently, you're on a good path to wellness. When you're on a good path to wellness the people around you will notice and follow your lead. Then the people around them will follow their lead. And pretty soon, we'll be able to reverse the obesity trend and preserve our healthcare system and help our economy. Every choice matters. Every person matters. Choose you. Choose them. Choose us.

It's Complicated

If you read yesterday, I shared three simple things you can do to help reverse the trend of obesity to help prevent the possible collapse of our healthcare system.

It really is that easy and it really is much more complicated. There are a whole bunch of reasons it is so difficult to get healthy and stay that way:

• Our education system doesn't teach meaningful health and wellness
• Farm policy makes unhealthy fake "foods" artifically cheap
• We cook too little and eat out too much
• We spend too much time with the television or computer and not enough time moving our bodies
• People work and commute longer leaving less leisure time to cook and exercise
• We don't listen to our own bodies enough; we listen to commercial advertising too often
• People think eating whole, real food is too expensive, too time consuming, or too difficult
• There are big, big dollars being spent by the companies that profit the most from our ill-health (food manufacturers, big Ag and drug companies... in my darker moments, I wondered if big Ag and fake food makers are in cahoots with big pharma. We're made fat by the former and treated by the latter...)

So, yes, it is complicated. And, yes, it does require personal effort to lose weight and get healthy. And, yes, there is a big, profitable machine working very hard to keep things just the way they are.

The biggest yes of all? What you do, and each choice you make, matters. You can refuse to be a victim.

I want you to choose you and choose wellness.